1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an automation facility and method for expanding the automation facility with a field device, where the automation facility has at least one automation device and at least one field device that are connected to a communication link, and where the automation facility is further planned into a project by an engineering method for solving an automation problem such that the at least one automation device processes a control program comprising a plurality of control modules planned into the project while controlling a process.
2. Description of the Related Art
Siemens Catalog “Process Control System SIMATIC PCS 7, Edition 2014/15, Chapter 4”, discloses an engineering system of an automation facility that is configured to plan both hardware and software automation components of the automation facility into a project, where especially as part of an “engineering of the automation”, a user creates or plans into a project a control program for controlling a technical process or a plant to be controlled.
Usually, such a plant is not a static production shop that is planned, set up and put into operation once and is not changed thereafter. Instead, the plant is subject to constant changes and adaptations in order to optimize and expand production. To this end, it is usually necessary to also incorporate new process-linked automation components in the form of further field devices into the automation facility. This incorporation is achieved by linking these field devices via a bus to the automation device or to a controller of the automation facility for the purposes of communication, and by correspondingly expanding the control program or the automation software with corresponding control modules for controlling these field devices. As part of such an expansion, it is desirable that there is no disruptive influence on production, such as the production for manufacturing synthetic resin, dyes or fertilizers. This means that the already existing automation components of the automation facility must continue to operate during the commissioning or during the inclusion of the new field devices without significant restriction of production operation, because each restriction or even a production stop (plant shutdown) usually leads to financial penalties.
Whether the available power reserves of the automation device of the communication link are sufficient to enable the new field devices to be put into operation without such a restriction becomes evident when they are being commissioned. Frequently, this commissioning leads to a shutdown of the plant and thus to a halt in production, because the power reserves are insufficient to implement tasks for predetermined operating cycles of the automation device or within the framework of the predetermined cycles of the communication network of the automation device.
In order to reduce the susceptibility to faults during the commissioning of the new field devices, the power reserves of the controller and the communication network can be estimated as part of planning expansions of the automation device into the project. In addition to clear facts, such as the maximum number of automation components or bus users and the maximum scope of the control software in relation to memory occupancy and processing run time or the processing cycle, above all the long years of experience of the project planners plays a significant role here. Because of these estimations or assumptions, the commissioning is never undertaken without a residual risk. This residual risk can be reduced by setting up a corresponding “shadow plant” or automation facility, in order to pre-test the functioning and the commissioning in advance of implementation. This means considerable costs in material and personnel where, for preparation for the expansion, a shadow plant as a rule also only represents a simulation of the plant and never an exact copy.